The present invention relates to arrow rests, and more particularly to magnetically actuated arrow rests and related methods of operation.
Most archery bows are equipped with an arrow rest that holds an arrow before it is shot from the bow. One common arrow rest is referred to as a “drop away” arrow rest. This rest precisely and accurately positions the arrow when the bow (and thus, the bowstring) is at full draw, but drops rapidly away from the arrow upon release of the bowstring. Accordingly, as the arrow is shot from the bow, the rest does not contact the arrow for its full length or the arrow's fletching, which would otherwise divert the arrow from its intended trajectory.
A variety of drop away arrow rests exist. One type of rest is a forward falling rest. This type of rest includes an arrow support that rotates forward and downward, moving from a loaded or cocked position to a relaxed position. Another type of a drop-away arrow rest is a C-axis rest. An example of this is the C-Max arrow rest offered by G5 Outdoors, LLC of Memphis, Mich. This type of rest includes an arrow support that rotates in a plane orthogonal to an axis of an arrow supported by the arrow support. Another type of drop-away rest is a falling block rest that moves linearly downward when the arrow is launched to provide vane clearance for the arrow.
Conventional arrow rests are actuated via the interaction of mechanical structures, such as spring-systems and cords that are attached to cables of the bow. While this provides generally consistent operation, sometimes the mechanical parts, particularly the springs, can fail due to excessive wear and/or friction. Further, the parts of the various mechanisms can become worn so that tolerances are no longer acceptable and the rests do not consistently fall, or do not consistently return to a loaded state.
Some drop-away arrow rests have been constructed using conventional magnets. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 6,688,297 to Clague. In this construction, the fall-away arrow rest is constructed like a teeter totter. One magnet attracts a first metal tab to hold the arrow rest in an up position. When the forward moving arrow slides on the shaft support, it exerts a mechanical force that overcomes the magnetic force holding the arrow support in an upward position, in which case the arrow support teeter totters forward, out of the way of the arrow which exits the bow. While this arrow rest assists in moving the rest, it is rather large and bulky, and the magnets forward and rearward of the support arms of the teeter totter structure can require fine tuning to consistently drop the arrow rest.
Although there are a number of drop-away arrow rests on the market, there remains room for improvement to provide consistently operating, wear resistant, uncomplicated mechanisms to launch arrows from an archery bow.